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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Just couldn't get into it. Refused to read for a week because I didn't want to pick it back up. Possibly due to the depression of the main character.
This book sweeps you in with the Nigerian cosmology and the tale that hooks you slowly into the narrative. You keep wanting a good ending to the story as you move across the tragedy that unfolds to think that there must be light at the end of the tunnel.
This is for me better than The Fisherman. I couldn't stop reading it. There desire to continue reading was pressing. The flow of the narrative, too engaging.
This is for me better than The Fisherman. I couldn't stop reading it. There desire to continue reading was pressing. The flow of the narrative, too engaging.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A beautifully written book, and yet... the very beauty of it's language works against it. Subject matter... well... MATTERS (sorry, sorry, bad pun). A description of a leaky garden hose can be informative, interesting, even concerning, when set down in plain language. But try to describe it in exquisitely poetic, achingly tragic, philosophically elevated terms, and you get inundated in cringy bathos. It doesn't even matter if the leaky hose actually did cause a tragedy, if it flooded the whole damn house or drowned its owners. In fact, the more dire the consequences of the problem, the worse it looks to center the narrative on a crusty garden implement instead of the human victims.
An Orchestra of Minorities is that novel-length panegyric to gross triviality. The gross and trivial thing in this case is the main character's garden-variety toxic masculinity. And it IS trivial: not because it fails to cause him and the woman in his life grief (it certainly does cause vast amounts of it) but because it's both utterly unlovely and common as dirt. And yet the novel lets this gross pattern of behavior take the wheel and be the driving force of the narrative, at the expense of the main characters' actual inner souls.
The premise of the story is that the protagonist, Nonso, has harmed some pregnant woman in some way, which is an unforgivable sin in Igbo religion, and now his guardian spirit is making excuses to the all-powerful God in the hopes that He will be lenient to his charge. In the course of the chi's narrative, we get to know the circumstances of Nonso's life: how the woman Ndali becomes the object of his desire (object being the key word here), how her family's disapproval of his social status affronts his fragile masculinity, how he abandons Ndali and takes senseless actions to assuage said masculinity, the tragic things he suffers as a result, and the violent misogyny he unleashes on Ndali when he finally gets back. Throughout this narrative, I kept thinking "ok, but what is this man REALLY like, what is the essence of the soul that the chi is supposed to be guiding?" Presumably, as a human being, Nonso is something in and of himself, and not just some human-shaped incarnation of the concept of misogyny. But to know his real self, we would need to witness some self-reflection that is more than grievances against others (justified or not), or see some spiritually significant action that stems from something other than knee-jerk machisimo. Neither of these things really happen.
And forget about Ndali as a character. When it comes to her, we are inundated with Nonso's opinions, feelings, desires, entitlements, and grievances towards her. But what is she LIKE in and of HERSELF? What does she THINK? How does she FEEL? What MOTIVATES her? We rarely get to see anything more than a glimpse.
Nonso's poor chi is going all out to paint us a picture of a human tragedy, and yet the more he piles on the poetry and pathos, the worse it sounds, because the center and the main agent in his tale is not an individual but an ugly learned behavior. It would have actually been better if Nonso was just vicious on the inside and his toxicity stemmed from a cruel personality, because then at least it would have had merit as a character study. But no, there is no evidence that he is a naturally cruel person. Nor is the book a social commentary. Either way, it doesn't really go into the source of Nonso's toxicity or his overweening sense of entitlement towards Ndali. It just is, and the chi sees no other option but to put it on a pedestal and make excuses for the bad shit it causes. The whole narrative is a protracted, contorted attempt use misogyny as an excuse to a God who apparently has a zero-tolerance policy for violence against pregnant women. Unsurprisingly, it makes the transgression sound even worse.
Since I've spent a LOT less time with the novel than Chigozie Obioma, I assume he is well aware of the dubious way in which the whole thing can come off. I assume he sees perfectly well that no amount of mystical poetry will make Nonso's toxicity any less ugly and pedestrian. So I can't help but conclude that the effect is fully intentional, and Obioma very much wanted readers to be disgusted with Nonso's behavior, and even more so the more flowery excuses his chi makes. So why do I think the novel is unsuccessful? Because intentionally or not, it still fails to center its human characters and their inner selves. And as a member of the human species, I can't help but want to read books where other humans, or at least other sentient persons, have agency. I don't want to read about the life and times of Schmucky the inanimate garden hose, or the exciting adventures of Dicky the senseless phenomena of misogyny. Sorry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
An Orchestra of Minorities is that novel-length panegyric to gross triviality. The gross and trivial thing in this case is the main character's garden-variety toxic masculinity. And it IS trivial: not because it fails to cause him and the woman in his life grief (it certainly does cause vast amounts of it) but because it's both utterly unlovely and common as dirt. And yet the novel lets this gross pattern of behavior take the wheel and be the driving force of the narrative, at the expense of the main characters' actual inner souls.
The premise of the story is that the protagonist, Nonso, has harmed some pregnant woman in some way, which is an unforgivable sin in Igbo religion, and now his guardian spirit is making excuses to the all-powerful God in the hopes that He will be lenient to his charge. In the course of the chi's narrative, we get to know the circumstances of Nonso's life: how the woman Ndali becomes the object of his desire (object being the key word here), how her family's disapproval of his social status affronts his fragile masculinity, how he abandons Ndali and takes senseless actions to assuage said masculinity, the tragic things he suffers as a result, and the violent misogyny he unleashes on Ndali when he finally gets back. Throughout this narrative, I kept thinking "ok, but what is this man REALLY like, what is the essence of the soul that the chi is supposed to be guiding?" Presumably, as a human being, Nonso is something in and of himself, and not just some human-shaped incarnation of the concept of misogyny. But to know his real self, we would need to witness some self-reflection that is more than grievances against others (justified or not), or see some spiritually significant action that stems from something other than knee-jerk machisimo. Neither of these things really happen.
And forget about Ndali as a character. When it comes to her, we are inundated with Nonso's opinions, feelings, desires, entitlements, and grievances towards her. But what is she LIKE in and of HERSELF? What does she THINK? How does she FEEL? What MOTIVATES her? We rarely get to see anything more than a glimpse.
Nonso's poor chi is going all out to paint us a picture of a human tragedy, and yet the more he piles on the poetry and pathos, the worse it sounds, because the center and the main agent in his tale is not an individual but an ugly learned behavior. It would have actually been better if Nonso was just vicious on the inside and his toxicity stemmed from a cruel personality, because then at least it would have had merit as a character study. But no, there is no evidence that he is a naturally cruel person. Nor is the book a social commentary. Either way, it doesn't really go into the source of Nonso's toxicity or his overweening sense of entitlement towards Ndali. It just is, and the chi sees no other option but to put it on a pedestal and make excuses for the bad shit it causes. The whole narrative is a protracted, contorted attempt use misogyny as an excuse to a God who apparently has a zero-tolerance policy for violence against pregnant women. Unsurprisingly, it makes the transgression sound even worse.
Since I've spent a LOT less time with the novel than Chigozie Obioma, I assume he is well aware of the dubious way in which the whole thing can come off. I assume he sees perfectly well that no amount of mystical poetry will make Nonso's toxicity any less ugly and pedestrian. So I can't help but conclude that the effect is fully intentional, and Obioma very much wanted readers to be disgusted with Nonso's behavior, and even more so the more flowery excuses his chi makes. So why do I think the novel is unsuccessful? Because intentionally or not, it still fails to center its human characters and their inner selves. And as a member of the human species, I can't help but want to read books where other humans, or at least other sentient persons, have agency. I don't want to read about the life and times of Schmucky the inanimate garden hose, or the exciting adventures of Dicky the senseless phenomena of misogyny. Sorry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In Chigozie Obioma's sophomore novel, following the marvelous The Fisherman, he takes the reader through a tribunal of sorts narrated by the chi of the protagonist, Chinonso. We, along with Chuku, are required to hear this testimony in its entirety and make a judgement on Chinonso's actions. In remarkable prose, Obioma gives us a glimpse of Igbo Cosmology and Philosphy through exquisite prose and intelligent use of structure and form. I did find myself losing focus during the second act, but overall this is a wonderful novel.
I hated this. Chinonso is the bad ex who feels he's forever owed love and dedication from the woman he lied to and disappeared on. He'd made a series of foolish mistakes to win her family over and then blamed her for all the horrific consequences when they weren't her fault. It's hard to feel empathy for him after that ending, especially considering his chi is trying to intercede for him.
Tragic and detailed. An immersive introduction to Igbo cosmology and an insight into post-Biafra Nigerian culture. The use of language is masterful, yet prolonged in an quite self-aware fashion.
I struggled with the narrative setup from the outset.
The relentless heartbreak of the story will haunt me, particularly the unfair plight of Ndali. There is a light sense of external tragedy, but the plot is driven by the internal weaknesses of men. I would recommend it, but it is a difficult read.
I struggled with the narrative setup from the outset.
The relentless heartbreak of the story will haunt me, particularly the unfair plight of Ndali. There is a light sense of external tragedy, but the plot is driven by the internal weaknesses of men. I would recommend it, but it is a difficult read.
I loved the exposition of Igbo cosmology. Character development is second to none and the seamless incorporation of history and memory into the present was beautiful. I'm additionally always a sucker for anything remotely mythic.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Summer bingo-An author from a country you've never visited
Wow! Beautiful, heartbreakingly sad, and almost too difficult to read because I wanted things to go in a different direction. What compelled me to read on was the voice of the main character's chi, or guardian spirit, who narrated the story. The story was told with such warmth and earnestness that it made it bearable to read to the end.
Wow! Beautiful, heartbreakingly sad, and almost too difficult to read because I wanted things to go in a different direction. What compelled me to read on was the voice of the main character's chi, or guardian spirit, who narrated the story. The story was told with such warmth and earnestness that it made it bearable to read to the end.